Terria
"Keep fighting! Reinforcements will be coming soon! We will not abandon you!"'' Nightly broadcasts from the Earth Federation military to Terria residents, 1114 S.V.''' Terria was the largest and most heavily populated Haljran province, serving as a sort of central agricultural center and unofficially as a main residential district. Possessing the highest population of any region, Terria made extensive use of high-speed mass public transit networks and magical portals to get everyone around. This allowed residents to live in one district but work in another entirely, making it possible to live in the most aesthetically pleasing districts built. It was a monument to the creative talents of the finest human, elvish, dwarvish, and draconid minds. Grand architecture for every block, every intersection, every spire and skyscraper. Countless parks, little forests filled with hybrid trees and exotic animals, man-made lakes and ponds, and numerous biodomed preserves for endangered wildlife littered the landscape. Of all the other districts, Terria took the longest to build due to its aesthetic focus. It was, subsequently, the easiest to raze. '' '' For the longest time, Terria was a low-priority target for the invading fleets, managing to maintain the status of a neutral region by acting as a refuge for civilians, pacifistic clergy, and '' '' the occasional bewildered politician. On Othgos's orders, the inhabitants walled off their district, set up shields of all sorts to protect themselves, ceased communications, and refused access to anyone that couldn't prove they were a refugee; effectively sealing themselves off from the rest of the universe entirely. For almost half of the Wars, this worked out as planned. Terria was able to preserve its beauty, quietly bring in refugees, and remain neutral- ensuring that it, if no other district, survived the conflict, so long as they did not openly aid any side. Unfortunately, as the Wars intensified and the scale escalated, many military officials began to rethink their agreement to leave Terria in peace. It possessed much strategic value with its transit systems, portals, and resource capabilities. Terria suddenly found itself under attack, from a hundred different factions. No support could be mustered to assist in their defense. The various defensive measures that were meant to keep Terria safe were rendered meaningless in short order. Their borderwalls were meaningless in the face of parachute drops and orbital insertions, their shields nullified in a matter of hours by heavy orbital and sub-orbital bombardments. Dozens of broadcasts from differing armies claiming the district as their territory played at all hours for weeks on end, promising safety in exchange for compliance. The confusion only became worse with the arrival of the Empire of Flesh, and the Mal'nal-ar Legion, whose goals required less in the way of conquest and were aimed more for genocide. With nowhere to run, the slaughter of civilian personnel was devastating. At the time of its direct involvement in the Armageddon Wars, Terria possessed a population of 2.7 billion people. Less than half a million were able to survive. ' But the inhabitants of Terria did not just let themselves be butchered by stray gunfire and artillery, bored sadists, and soldiers unsure of who the enemy was. Despite their lack of wartime preparations, they fought back with everything they had, and many are the tales of bravery and sacrifice etched into history. Children taking up the arms of their fallen parents to stave off the invaders. Mobs of professional killers and gangs of petty thugs striking truces to defend their homes. Ethnic supremacy groups calling ceasefires to join forces and attack the enemy. People rallying behind leaders who were but days ago useless figureheads and giving their lives to ensure the province's survival. These efforts very nearly in vain on many occasions, and few know how close these stalwart but meager defenders came to total annihilation. After a decade of gruesome conflict, Terria was rendered almost completely uninhabitable, save for a few choice spots which had been deemed of little tactical use. Between the Mal'nal-ar Legion, now bound by the Inquisition and their Pagan allies in Nido del Diabolos, the endless waves of Goblinoid warships which had crashed and made permanent residence within several parks and biodomes, and the horrors of the Byzuran, it is considered something of a surprise that victory was claimed by an at-the-time unlikely candidate- the Dead. Nightmares such as the Gaki, Shamblers, and the Rotters, often led by Rippers, Necromancers, Liches, and other such creatures that enslave and control the undead; the greater part of Terria belongs to the shuffling hordes of the undead. '' ''Fortunately, the fall of Terria was not, as noted above, a complete rout. The majority of those who managed to survive went on to become the founding population of what is now Paradise City, due to the sacrifices made by many thousands of heroic souls whose exploits are unlikely to ever be given the acclaim and acknowledgement they deserve. But not all those who survived escaped. Aside from the innumerable stories of mad hermits, desperate criminals, roving gangs of raiders, cells of survivors of the Wars hidden underground, blood-crazed warriors looking for a place to die in battle, and crusaders who believe the tides of Damnation and Undeath can be turned back if only they try hard enough; there are a handful of small communities which have successfully established themselves across the Terrian landscape, generally making use of Terria's numerous nature reserves and living as urban nomads. Aside from these communities, it is often ill-advised to seek out the hidden sanctuaries and fortresses, as those who go in search of these places have an unpleasant tendency to never return- supposedly just as much due to the infestations of ravenous beasts and violent undead as to the paranoid and mentally unstable people who may inhabit such isolated strongholds. Points of Interest: Nido del Diabolos Deilamar Park EFA Fort Barrow The Junk Heap Nebbarn Residential Block Prickleburr Swamp Rail City Historical Excerpts: St. Guinefort's Mercy A journal found under rubble Back to Telo-Haljr Back to Main Page